Shades of Thought
Saturos saw Felix collapse, and almost immediately he dropped his hands from the wheel. Just in time, he remembered that they were still moving, toward land, no less, and grabbed it again. He began turning the ship back around to face the open sea.
"Menardi!" he yelled. "Stop this ship at once!"
She walked back out of the adults' cabin, wiping her hands on her skirt. "But it takes more Psynergy to stop it than it does to keep it going," she said.
"Don't worry about that! We can take some time to recover. Right now, you need to stop so that we can see to that boy!" Saturos pointed with one hand, keeping the other on the wheel.
Menardi now saw Felix. Her hands flew upward to cover her mouth. "By the Gods, what did he do?" She raised her arms. "Stop!" she yelled, and white fire flew from her hands. The ship slowed to a stop, and Saturos at once galloped to the mast and scrambled up like some sort of monkey. As we went, he reached out and pulled on the ropes that held the sail open. Reaching the crow's nest, he tied them back.
"I don't know why this ship even has sails when it runs on pure Psynergetic power," Saturos muttered as he climbed back down.
"Saturos! Hold him!" Menardi said, holding Felix out toward her traveling companion. "I have to perform Wish!"
Saturos scowled as he took Felix into his arms. "But Wish will heal all three of us, and neither you nor I need healing," he said.
"It's the only healing power I have," Menardi said. "Now hold still." She held out her hands, which began to glow. "Wish!" The shimmering white energy flew into the air like water from a fountain and sprinkled over the three. Saturos looked down at Felix, who began to cough.
"I think he inhaled some water," Saturos said. Menardi, after Wish had subsided, took Felix from the blue-skinned man and looked at him. The boy was shivering; his skin was very pale and his teeth were chattering.
"I believe he's been overexposed to the cold water and the cold northern air," Menardi said. "He's catching hypothermia very quickly. We have to get him warm. Strip off his clothing," she instructed, shoving Felix back into Saturos' arms. "Then, wrap him in at least three blankets--warm ones--and lay him near the fire. That will help him warm up. After he's nice and toasty, lay him in bed."
Saturos watched Menardi as she began to walk off to their cabin. "Wait! Why don't you strip him?" Saturos demanded.
"Are you kidding, Saturos? He's a fifteen-year-old boy! He needs his privacy! I'm a woman, I can't go about stripping children!" Menardi continued walking.
Saturos sighed. "You sure didn't have any reservations about stripping him when we were back in Vale!" he called after her.
"Quit whining and just do it, Saturos!"
Saturos wrinkled his nose, then took the boy into the galley. He left for a minute, then came back with four thick woolen blankets. After stripping Felix of his soaked clothes, he wrapped the boy in the blankets and lit the stone fireplace with one well-aimed Flare. For nearly an hour he sat there, watching Felix. The boy's skin was regaining its tone, but his coughing had only gotten worse. Saturos decided that enough was enough and stood up with Felix in his arms just as Menardi walked in.
"So?" Menardi asked. "How is he?"
"I think he's as warmed-up as he's going to get," Saturos replied. "But his coughing is getting worse by the minute."
"Let me see." Menardi took the boy from Saturos, looked at his sweaty face, and nodded. "Yes, he's by far warm enough. I think we've beaten the hypothermia, but something else has set in. Let's see, shall we?" She handed Felix to Saturos and held out her hands again.
"Wait, Menardi, don't! You'll only--"
"Wish!" The white fountain bubbled over them, and Felix's coughing lightened, but only slightly.
"--exhaust your Psynergy supply," Saturos finished.
Menardi grinned at him. "I supposed we're dead on the water for a while, then, aren't we?" She took back Felix. "I'm going to take him and put him in bed. When he wakes up, I'll treat him further." She walked out of the galley and back in to the Valeans' cabin.
It wasn't until hours later, after the sun had set, that Felix began to stir.
"You're an idiot!" he heard Saturos yelling. "A complete and total dolt!"
Felix opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. The lanterns blinded him, and the whole cabin swam as if underwater. Colors were amiss; Menardi, who was putting something cold on his forehead, looked bright orange as opposed to her normal reddish tone, and Saturos was tinted a bit purple. Felix groaned and closed his eyes again. His hearing wasn't much better. Saturos' yelling echoed in his mind, giving him a horrible headache.
"You've caught pneumonia from swimming in the sea," Menardi explained to him, speaking very softly. "And I'm all out of Psynergy for now, so we're dead on the water. Open your mouth."
Felix did so, and Menardi poured a hot, sticky substance down the boy's throat. Felix started to gag, but Menardi put one slender finger on his throat and he swallowed. She then made him swallow two rather large pills that he almost choked on.
Saturos was standing in the doorway of the cabin. "You could have died, boy, and then where would we be?" he yelled.
"Quit yelling at the boy, he's sick," Menardi said. "Yelling isn't going to help him recover any faster."
"Well, yelling sure isn't going to make him worse, is it?" Saturos replied. He walked further into the cabin and leaned over Felix, his red eyes boring into the brown-haired boy. "You fool!" he yelled right into Felix's face. Felix curled into a fetal position and covered his ears, letting out a groan. "Why sacrifice your life for a fool like that man Kyle? He wanted to swim to shore! You should have let him die trying!" His rough-skinned hand lashed down onto Felix's cheek, leaving a red mark. When Felix jerked at the pain, Saturos slapped his other cheek. "Don't do that again!" he screamed at Felix. "Unless you want to die!"
Felix looked up, grinning as best he could with his reddened and swelling cheeks. "I'm not going to die. You need me to get into the Lighthouse, remember?" Another hard slap was his answer. Felix's chocolate eyes began to tear.
"I have better things to do than waste my time with a smart-mouthed Venus Adept who can't even perform Cure Well!" Saturos yelled once more. He turned around. "Menardi, hurry up and heal this crybaby." With a swish of his cape, Saturos walked out of the cabin.
"I have a piece of advice for you," Menardi said, rubbing a damp cloth over Felix's swelling cheeks. "Don't make Saturos mad. He'll kill you if you give him reason enough. He's already upset enough that I made him tend to you after you collapsed."
Felix grinned again. "He won't kill me," he said in a slightly singsong tone. "He needs me!"
"Do you think you're the only Venus Adept in the world, boy? He's more than willing to replace you. Here. Swallow this." Menardi pressed a cup to Felix's lips. He swallowed, but only narrowly avoided gagging.
"That stuff's awful!" he groaned. "What on Weyard is that?"
Menardi put a bucket in front of him. Felix glanced at her, then looked at the bucket. Suddenly, his face paled and he lurched forward, emptying the contents of his stomach into the container.
" That stuff' is something called ipecac," Menardi said, watching Felix vomit. "It'll help you get better quicker by purging any infection from your stomach."
Felix groaned and looked up for a moment. "And what in Venus' name does my stomach have to do with pneumonia?"
Menardi gave him a grin. "I just want to make sure you don't get any sicker. The weather in Prox is not going to do much for your well-being if you're already sick when we get there. You'll need to recover while we're still on the ship." She looked at the bucket and wrinkled her nose. "So much for those pills. Guess I'll have to give you some more." She walked over to the cupboard.
Felix took another minute to vomit some more, then wiped his mouth and stuck out his tongue. "That," he said, "was not pleasant." He shook his head, fluffing out his hair as he did so, and looked at Menardi. "What about Kyle?"
"He got quite a lungful of water," Menardi replied. "I'm pretty sure he's going to be unconscious for a while. Most likely until we get to Prox, and probably even longer. At least that way he won't be giving us any more trouble." She held out two more pills and a cup of something that fizzed and bubbled. "Here."
Felix eyed the cup suspiciously. "That's not more ipecac, is it?"
"No, it's to help settle your stomach from taking the ipecac," Menardi replied. She forced the cup into his hands. "Do you think I enjoy making you suffer?"
"Sometimes I wonder about that," Felix muttered, slowly taking the pills in Menardi's hand and swallowing them. He took a drink of the bubbling liquid, made a face, and drank the rest of it in one swig. "Nasty stuff," he said with a wince.
"Well, it would have tasted better, but I put a sleeping draught in it," Menardi said. Felix stared at her in disbelief, his jaw dropping slightly and his eyebrows raising. She continued. "It'll take a bit of time to kick in, but once it does, you'll be out like a light until dawn.That will give Saturos and I time to recover our Psynergy, and you time to recover some of your health. We're planning to stop at Kalt Island and trade before we head back to Prox. We have some things to trade with the couple--" she stopped speaking. Felix was staring at her plaintively. "Now, what's that look for? I'm just trying to help you recover!"
"I want to go home," Felix said. He very suddenly sounded like a small child pleading for his mother's arms. "I miss Vale. I want to go back." His hands clenched into fists, wrinkling his bedsheets.
"You can't go back," Menardi answered.
"My sister, though, who will take care of her? Who's going to keep Isaac and Garet in shape? And who's left for Old Kraden to teach?" He looked down into his lap. "I want my sister." His fists tightened.
"Don't start sniveling now!" Menardi groaned. "We still have to get to Prox, boy! Go to sleep! You're just upset because you're tired!"
"No!" Felix yelled. "I'm worried about Jenna!" Tears were slowly trickling down his cheeks. "I'm scared! What if she's scared, too?"
"Sitting here and blubbering won't solve anything, Felix. Hopefully, that drug will kick in soon, and then there'll be no more crying." Felix looked up and wiped his eyes on one of his wrists. His eyelids were beginning to droop already. "Go to bed!" Menardi said. "In the morning, we'll go to Kalt Island. And forget about your sister, Felix! You are dead to her, and she should be dead to you!"
"I want Jenna!" Felix's body was wracked by sobs. "I want my sister!"
"Go to sleep!" Menardi said. Felix laid down, but continued sniffling as he finally fell asleep.
Menardi let out her breath and walked into the cabin she and Saturos shared.
"Is the sniveling brat finally asleep?" Saturos asked.
"Yes, the boy's sleeping, though it took some of my special draught to get him that way," Menardi replied, stripping down to her undergarments and climbing into her own bed. "He broke down just moments ago, whining that he wants his sister and his house and all that nonsense."
"Well, I suppose he has aright to wish, doesn't he?" Saturos said. "Imagine if you were separated from Karst and told that you could never see her again, that you were dead to her."
Menardi snorted. "Good riddance!"
"You know you don't really believe that," Saturos said. "You say it now, but if it were to really happen, your heart would be wrenched from your chest. It's the same thing as if Karst had died."
Menardi was suddenly silent as she thought about Saturos' brother, Nephtal. He had been very similar to Saturos in many ways, but had a smile that would melt a woman's heart, unlike Saturos' icy smirk that was often carved into his features. "Saturos, I'm sorry," she said. "I almost forgot about Nephtal."
"It is not of any importance now," Saturos said, rolling over so his back was to Menardi. "Go to sleep. I've spent enough of my night worrying about that foolish Adept. I wish to spend no more of it talking. We go to Kalt Island tomorrow. I wish to get some fish from the elderly couple,and perhaps some cloth. Silks. For my mother. You may buy some for Karst if you wish. And from Kalt, it's on to Prox. So, go to sleep."
"I'm sorry," Menardi said again.
"Sleep, Menardi!" Saturos snapped, then went silent again.
Menardi closed her eyes and drifted off into dreams.
"Good morning, sleepyheads!" Felix chirped. "Sit up! I made breakfast for us!"
Menardi sat up as commanded, and Felix handed her a plate of eggs and bacon. "You're awfully chipper for someone who was suffering from pneumonia only last night," the blonde said.
"The pneumonia? Oh, right, I'm still trying to kick that. I was very careful to wash my hands and not to cough on the food, though!" Felix handed a second plate to Saturos when the blue-haired man sat up. "So," Felix said, "where is this Kalt Island, anyway?"
"Just a bit further west of here," Saturos said before putting an entire fried egg in his mouth. He carefully chewed and swallowed. "There is an elderly couple there that I like to trade with. We'll get some cloth to make you some new clothes while we're there. Possibly some fish. You can't catch fish in Prox."
"I've never had sea fish," Felix said. "We ate fish from the stream a lot in Vale, but never any fish from the ocean."
"You've been missing out, then," Menardi said. "As soon as we're done eating, we'll go. My Psynergy has returned, so I'm ready to start the ship up again."
After they were done eating, they did set off. Felix abducted another one of Saturos' shirts to serve as his tunic, and found his old pair of shoes from a few days ago in Vale. They were practically dry, so he put them on.
After about an hour, they had reached the shore of Kalt Island. Saturos loaded a box with Menardi's healing supplies, some extra blankets and some bedsheets to serve as trading material. Menardi took a smaller pack, full of gold. "In case our things aren't enough to trade," she had explained to Felix.
He followed them onto shore and into the snowdrifts, to where a small cottage was hidden among the hills and trees. Smoke poured from the chimney, and the windows of the cottage were steamed over.
Saturos knocked on the door. "Elders! It's Saturos and Menardi from Prox! We've brought some things to trade!"
A man opened the door. He was by no means elderly; he was only perhaps a year older than Felix himself. He had pale blue hair that fell around his shoulders and aqua-green eyes. His tunic was white, with a blue undershirt and leggings. A violet cape was tossed almost carelessly over his shoulders. His skin was very pale.
He folded his arms and narrowed his aquamarine eyes. "Can I help you?"